Alkali metal and alkali metal alloy catalysts have been used to catalyze these alkenylation reactions as taught in Eberhardt, U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,758 (1966), Shima et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,766,288 (1973) and U.S. Pat. 1,934,123 (1928) which are all specifically incorporated herein by reference. Use of amine co-catalyst in these alkenylation reactions according to this invention can alter the isomeric product distribution and yield better selectivity to the desired product.
Certain tertiary amines are known to increase the reactivity of organolithium and organosodium catalysts according to Polyamine-Chelated Alkali Metal Compounds. Ed. A. W. Langer. Advances in Chemistry Series No 130. American Chemical Society, 1974. However, the amines herein described are ineffective as cocatalysts with lithium or sodium alone for these alkenylation reactions.